Assessment of the response of hepatocellular carcinoma to interventional radiology treatments.

According to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) guidelines, interventional radiology procedures are valuable treatment options for many hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) that are not amenable to resection or transplantation. Accurate assessment of the efficacy of therapies at earlier stages enables completion of treatment, optimal follow-up and to prevent potentially unnecessary treatments, side effects and costly failure. The goal of this review is to summarize and describe the radiological strategies that have been proposed to predict survival and to stratify HCC responses after interventional radiology therapies. New techniques currently in development are also described.